MCA Honors Shardul Thakur, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravi Shastri for Historic ‘Gabba’ Win

India cricketers Shardul Thakur, Ajinkya Rahane and former head coach Ravi Shastri were honoured during the annual Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) Awards held in BKC Club, Mumbai on Friday (January 6). The trio was felicitated for their heroics in the Gabba Test wherein team India defeated Australia at the iconic ‘The Gabba’ venue in Brisbane during the four-match Test series to capture the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21.

The official Instagram page of MCA shared the picture of the trio receiving their award and captioned it as “The Gabba conquerors”.

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India’s victory at Gabba was one of the most iconic ones as prior to that, Australia was undefeated at the venue in a Test match for 32 years. They had last lost to West Indies in 1988 and since then there was no competition to the Aussies at the venue.

India were in a very tough situation as they were plagued by injuries and needed 328 runs to chase. No team had ever scored 329 to win a Test match in Brisbane. A draw was enough for India to retain the series title as the current holders.But, on the final day of the final Test, India came out with a very different mindset.  High-spirited team led by the efforts of Shubman Gill (91), Rishabh Pant (89*) and Cheteshwar Pujara (56) breached the fortress and marched in pride with the Border Gavaskar Trophy. They finished the match with three overs to spare and clinched the memorable victory by 2-1.

Shardul Thakur showcased an outstanding all-round performance, scoring 67 and 2 with the bat and taking 3/94 and 4/61 with the ball. In the first innings, he had put on a 123-run seventh-wicket stand with Washington Sundar (62), when India was struggling at 186/6.

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Rahane was leading the side in the absence of Virat Kohli, and he also contributed with the scores of 37 and 24. At that time, Ravi Shastri was India’s head coach, who guided the young side to a historic victory. The Gabba Test victory will be remembered for ages as India clinched it from a position where hardly any team could have even thought to level it with a draw.

However, it is to be noted that India will now defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home, starting from February 9 onwards in a four-match series.

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